Buses line up at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in 2011. U-T file photo

San Diego 
Some of San Diego’s neediest students who face long and sometimes dangerous walks to and from school would be eligible for free city bus passes under a proposal set to go before the board of education Tuesday.

Trustee Richard Barrera has spearheaded the San Diego Unified School District’s proposed Youth Opportunity Pass program, a pilot project that has already received preliminary support from Mayor Bob Filner and incoming Superintendent Cindy Marten.

The program would cost San Diego Unified $150,000 and would be contingent on the city of San Diego approving a matching grant.

The goal is to distribute about 2,200 bus passes to schools in San Diego’s inner-city neighborhoods to help students who have been hurt by recent budget cuts that have dramatically scaled back district transportation services.

Organizers hope that access to city buses would increase school attendance rates and make it easier for students to stay after school for sports and other activities. By riding buses to and from school, the district also hopes to eliminate the dangers that come with walking to school for some students — such as falling victim to crime and crossing dangerous intersections.

Under the proposed one-year pilot program, the bulk of bus passes would be distributed to students at Crawford, Hoover, Lincoln and San Diego high schools in the 2013-14 academic year.

A smaller-scale program would be available to elementary and middle schools in the same area, a region of the city that ranks highest in terms of transportation needs, according to a district analysis.

The passes would be awarded to students who fill out applications based on financial need, distance between home and school, fear of safety while walking to school, previous community or extracurricular involvement, chronic absenteeism, and holding down a part-time job.

About 400 students in City Heights have lost their transportation to and from school when the district cut back bus service in recent years.

The median income for a family of five in City Heights is $19,000 a year. A transit-dependent family in that area with three children in school would pay $108 a month for bus service.

The Metropolitan Transit System board would have to formally approve the program that is based on similar models used in San Francisco, Portland and Tempe, Ariz.

If the project moves ahead, participants would be required to complete entrance and exit surveys to allow the district to track the program’s success quarterly.

San Diego Unified is considering the program at a time when it is facing a $92 million shortfall in its $1.1 billion operating budget proposed for next year. However, district officials said in the proposal the plan is “a down payment on the future of no-cost youth bus ridership,” and they would seek regional, state and federal funds to continue and expand the project.